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Terminally ill Pennsylvania teen receives Christmas cards from Norfolk students

Posted at 12:54 PM, Dec 27, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-27 17:17:40-05

NORFOLK, Va. – A group of Lake Taylor Middle School students have taken action for a complete stranger who lives in Pennsylvania.

Maddox Hyde, a student at Dubois Area Middle School near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma eight years ago and, at the age of 14, he has learned he only has a few weeks to live.

In November Hyde put the word out that all he wanted for Christmas was to receive cards from around the world. His dad told News 3 on Thursday over Facebook that the card count has surpassed 100,000!

CBS reports cards have poured in from all over the country and even a few from Mexico! Eleven of those cards came from students at Lake Taylor Middle School, here in Norfolk.

News 3 spoke to 6th grade English teacher Yvonne De Los Santos who saw a trending post on social media about Hyde’s request, and put the idea out to her class as Christmas was approaching. She said the unit they were on was all about friendship and what it means to be a friend.

She said Paul Butler, Oakland Raiders rookie started the viral act of kindness.

De Los Santos said the outpouring of love for this teenage boy nobody has ever met was remarkable. “The kids really surprised me with their letters and just what they would write, it brought tears to my eyes,” she said.

Students wrote messages like “I’ll miss you,” and “I’m sorry this happened to you.” Those cards and thousands of others are now hanging around Hyde’s home in Reynoldsville, PA.

Hyde’s dad writes, “Maddox has his good days and bad days but always toughs through the bad with a smile and his Christmas was good.”

For anyone interested in writing to Hyde, his address is listed below:

Maddox Hyde
333 Ohio Street
Reynoldsville, PA 15851